


Bloodline of the Hero

by Dragon_of_Dreams



Category: Linked Universe - Fandom, The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Fight Scenes, Gen, Linked Universe (Legend of Zelda), Nor Any of its Variants, Poor Hyrule Doesn't Know the Spin Attack, Self-Doubt, Taking a Game Mechanic Literally, The entire gang is here, accidental injury, imposter syndrome
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-26
Updated: 2020-09-02
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:53:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,986
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26116756
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dragon_of_Dreams/pseuds/Dragon_of_Dreams
Summary: “The Whirling Blade technique has been handed down from generation to generation by the family of the hero.” — Secrets of the Whirling BladeIt is said that the technique of the whirling blade, also known as the Spin Attack, has been passed down by the bloodline of the royal knights.When Hyrule learns that he’s the only one to not know the Spin Attack, it furthers confirms that he doesn’t belong with the other heroes. Hyrule now must prove himself harder to keep the others safe, even if it ends up destroying him inside.
Relationships: Hyrule & Legend (Linked Universe), Warriors & Wind (Linked Universe)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 77





	1. The Boy With a Wooden Sword

**Author's Note:**

> Originally this fic was going to be released as a long one-shot. However, I decided it is time to make it a multi-chapter. Now I am finally releasing the first part of this long-awaited fic.

Clashes reverberated through the silence of the camp. Warriors and Legend sparring with each other, although not with their words as they often tended to do but with their swords.

Hyrule leaned against a tree at a short distance from them. Curiosity sparkled in his brown eyes as he watched how the two more experienced fighters swung their swords—a flicker of their arm to counter against another’s swing.

“Do you see that?” Wind called out beside him, pointing out how Warriors twirled around Legend and thrusted his sword to his back.

A gasp of awe escaped from Hyrule’s lips. He wasn’t used to moves so graceful during combat, as if Warriors danced along with the sword and not just with a jerk of his arm.

“I want to learn that!” Wind cried. “I hope Warriors teaches me how to do it.”

Hyrule nodded. His eyes landed on his own predecessor, now stiff against Warriors’s sword.

“Is that all you got?” Warriors asked. “Or are you done already?”

“As a matter of fact, I do.”

_What?_

Legend dropped and swung his leg around, knocking Warriors down to the ground. Warriors was then met with the Tempered Sword to his chest.

“Cheater!”

A smirk appeared on Legend’s face. “There aren’t rules in battle. Admit it, Warriors. That overconfidence of yours will go against you one day.”

“As if it hasn’t already.”

Legend reached out his hand, lifting Warriors up from the ground. Hyrule watched as the two gave their bows, going to separate ways.

“Warriors, wait!” Wind ran out to the captain. “Can you teach me how to move like that?”

As Wind walked on with Warriors out of the skirts of the arena, Hyrule rose from his spot and walked to his mentor and predecessor. Legend stopped and gave a glance to the traveler, rising an eyebrow.

“What, do you want spar to with me?” Legend asked.

The question caught Hyrule off-guard. He didn’t expect that Legend, of all people, would want to spar with someone as lowly as him. “I-um…” Hyrule swallowed. “I would like that.”

“Alright,” Legend said. “Give me a break. You can go ahead and warm up in the meantime.”

Hyrule heeded Legend’s words. He went out to grab his own magical sword, a beautiful silver blade decorated with red gems on its hilt. It was nothing compared to the Master Sword that Sky had, which radiated with the divine power of the gods, but his sword did its job and that’s all it mattered to him.

So he went out of his way of the camp, finding a lone tree he could use as a target practice. Hyrule thrusted his sword towards the tree, dead center in the trunk. He kept stabbing it, marking at different spots of the tree. Visions of his Moblins flustered behind his glance, how Hyrule had dodged them and kept thrusting.

Then he stiffened to a halt on the rustling of grass behind him. He swirled around to face Legend, who held his hands on his hips. Legend’s eyebrows creased as he stared at the marked tree.

“Break is over. Are you done?”

All Hyrule could do was nod.

“Follow me,” Legend said.

Legend took Hyrule to a different section of the camp, one that the traveler didn’t recognize—different the sparring between Legend and Warriors. Uncut grass swept at their feet.

“Stand there.”

Hyrule nodded. He grasped his sword tightly as Legend made his way to the other side of their makeshift arena. Legend turned around, with his sword lowered at his side. A glare from those icy blue eyes sent Hyrule shivers down his spine. _I wouldn’t want him as my enemy,_ Hyrule thought. _I wonder how Ganon must have felt fighting him all this time._

“Are you ready, Hyrule?”

Said traveler swallowed. “As ready as I can be.”

Hyrule charged at Legend, careful not to injure his partner and mentor. He swung out his sword, clashing with Legend’s own. He tried again, only to be blocked. Hyrule circled around Legend, thrusting once again, only for Legend to turn around and defend himself.

Oddly, as Hyrule quickly noted, Legend never parried back with his own swing. The other hero’s eyes were glued not to him, but on his arm as he swung.

 _What are you planning?_ Hyrule thought with gritted teeth. Swords still clashed with one another. _Why aren’t you fighting back?_

It took another few moments of an impasse before Legend stepped back, whirling his blade around and with great force knocked the sword out of Hyrule’s hand.

“Do you even know how to _swing_ a sword?” Legend asked, although it lacked the usual snark he carried with Warriors.

Hyrule’s eyes widened. He grasped his hand, tightening his hand at nothing but air where his sword used to be. He stared back at Legend. _How?_

“What? Got something on my face?”

“Wh-where—”Hyrule swallowed, still trying to grasp at the thought of his sword being flung away. He spoke again, whispering, “Where did you learn that?”

“What? The spin attack?” Legend asked. A frown formed on his mouth. “My uncle taught me. Did you know that it was a technique passed down by the family of the hero? Passed down by the Royal Knights?”

_What?_

“You know what? Forget it,” Legend said. “Starting tomorrow I will show you how to properly handle a sword.”

Hyrule nodded, although Legend’s words got stuck in his mind. _Passed down by the family of the hero?_

He went on to pick up his sword, which had flown quite a few feet away. Through an inspection the sword didn’t have any marks left by Legend’s sword. It was truly a remarkable blade, Hyrule thought, but how useful was a blade if its wielder held no skill?

He did have it easier, didn’t he? The others had to master their skills to defeat their foes. All he had was his wits. And his magic.


	2. The Traveler Without a Purpose

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for Imposter Syndrome.

The break of dawn loomed over the camp. Paling skies settled with the loud of clashes of sparring once again and the yells of Warriors and Legend rebounding each other. Hyrule scoffed. Warriors probably had demanded a rematch after that stunt Legend pulled last time, but he didn’t want to watch. His eyes fell on the greens of his surroundings, calling his name—beckoning him to explore.

The footsteps followed in a trace. His mind wandered along.

All he needed was the sword and shield in his back. They had served him well during his journey to search for the Triforce of Courage. What else did he need?

So he thought as he pushed through the foliage, breathing in the scent of the earth beneath his feet. The breeze breathed on his locks, flying as free as—

“Hey, Hyrule! Where are you going?”

Hyrule froze. He turned around, facing the Hero of Winds running towards him. A large grin plastered on the younger’s face. “Are you going to explore? Can I go with you?”

“Sure,” Hyrule said. “But why?”

“Come on, you know why,” Wind said. “Can’t expect you and Wild have all the fun.”

A smile appeared on Hyrule’s lips. If there was one thing that he loved doing more than anything else in his world, it was exploring.

So the Hero of Winds and the traveler set out on their way, past the familiar trees that encompassed their camp. Wonder washed over Hyrule as he looked up to the skies, breathing in the thoroughly blue that dispersed the miasma of doubt away. The leaves danced above in the wind. Shadows swept between branches, almost unnoticeable to the unwary eye. Chirps and the occasional shrill sang above Hyrule’s head, snapping him back to the open skies.

Then a bush shook seemingly by itself. Hyrule took out his sword, Wind following. A small creature popped out of the bush, brown with a large bushy tail, before it fled up the trees.

The two heroes relaxed. No monster. Hyrule breathed out, sheathing his sword away. Only animals.

Something about this woods brimmed with life. All those birds. All those insects that occasionally buzzed by them. All those little rodents that ran by them.

What had happened by his time?

“Hey, Hyrule. How’s your um... Hyrule like?”

Said traveler chuckled. Yeah... perhaps naming himself after his homeland wasn’t the best idea after all, but it was all he had to distinguish himself. Hero of Hyrule. Everyone was a hero of Hyrule. The others had fancy titles: Hero of Time, Hero of Winds, Hero of Legend, but they all were also the heroes of Hyrule.

“It’s home,” he said, his eyes downcast. “It’s all I knew before I met you guys. Living my entire life fighting and fleeing from monsters.

“But enough about that. What about yours?”

Wind shrugged. “I don’t have a Hyrule. Not anymore.”

Hyrule’s heart skipped a beat at the words. _Not anymore?_ “What happened?”

“Mine’s flooded.”

 _Flooded?_ He stared at the younger hero, eyes peeled wide as the answer chilled his entire being. “H-How?”

“It’s a long story,” Wind said, nonchalant. “I did save my home, which is the Great Sea, but I didn’t save Hyrule itself.”

Hyrule bit his tongue.A hero who didn’t save Hyrule?

“You’d have to tell me more sometime,” it was all he said. Still, Hyrule couldn’t help but think. This thirteen-year-old, almost fourteen, was just as a hero as the rest of them, yet suffered the loss of a homeland they all strived to save. Even more so given his age.

How was it like to live in the sea? Hyrule didn’t dwell much on that. He couldn’t imagine living surrounded by water when he could not swim himself. He could’t swim. He couldn’t do a spin attack. He couldn’t swing a sword.

But again, it had to be a special technique, right? Something that only Legend knew?

“Hey, Wind,” Hyrule started. “Um… do you know the spin attack?”

Wind’s eyes widened. “Of course I do! I also know the hurricane spin!”

The _what_ spin? Boy, did Hyrule have to learn a lot. First a spin attack, now there’s another move? How much did he missed out on?

“Do you think the others know about it?”

“Well, I’m not afraid to ask. If you don’t mind I can show you later.”

Hyrule prayed to the gods that he wasn’t the only one left out.

The rest of their little escapade didn’t bring much. Hyrule had gathered a few dropped apples and acorns that he knew Wild would use for cooking. He ate an apple himself and gave another to Wind, snacking before they headed back to the camp.

Once they arrived Hyrule gave the food he gathered to Wild, who was already starting a campfire to prepare for lunch. Wild thanked him.

“Hey, guys,” Wind blurted out. “Want to see a really cool skill?”

“Did Warriors teach you something?” Legend called out from across the camp, sitting down next to the aforementioned hero. The captain smirked.

“Well, yes! He did! But that’s not what I’m talking about,” Wind answered. “It’s a technique I learned long before I met you guys!”

“Joy,” Legend deadpanned.

* * *

The Links gathered at a field, far away from the trees and boulders—and any other obstacle.

“Just keep your distance guys,” Wind said, eyeing each of the Links and making sure everyone was far from his range before nodding. “Just like that. Don’t move any closer.”

“So, what do you want to show us, Wind?” Time asked. The eldest hero had his arms crossed and a smile on his face.

“This is something I never got to show you guys. It’s very dangerous now that I’m with you all, but it’s something I use when I’m surrounded by monsters.”

Legend scoffed. “Let me guess, a spin attack?”

The younger hero laughed. “It’s much more than that.”

Wind got into position, bending his knees and had his sword arm stretched. Sparkles of green surged into his blade, fusing it with light. “Just have shields ready just in case,” he said.

The blade’s magic waved in the air. Hyrule brought his shield up, as so did everyone else in the vicinity, afraid of what that power would bring.

Wind screamed, spinning around the field like a tornado, cutting away the fields of grass as he moved.

The Links stepped back as Wind spun towards them, but the younger hero reoriented himself, swinging farther away from the others until he suddenly stopped. All dizzy and wobbling around.

“Wind!”

Everyone gathered around the young hero. Wind shook his head, “I’m okay,” he said. “That’s why I don’t use it often. It makes me dizzy.”

“Not to mention dangerous,” Legend said. “You could have just said it was a great spin attack.”

“A great—” Wind laughed. “That’s not what it’s called! It’s called the hurricane spin!”

“That is nothing like the great spin,” muttered Twilight to Legend.

Hyrule just creased his eyebrows at all those names. Spin attack? Hurricane spin? Great spin? A glance at the others showed no confusion, but it seemed as if there was an inner understanding between them, some secret hero code that he was no part of.

So he turned away, not caring about the difference between Legend’s Great spin and Twilight’s. What did it matter to him? He knew neither.

“Hey, Hyrule.”

The shortest hero walked towards him. Four gave a lopsided smile. “Don’t worry about them,” he said to Hyrule. “What Wind has shown us was really cool, don’t you think?”

Hyrule nodded.Regardless of the name, it was indeed cool.

“So,” Hyrule started, “do you know it?”

“The Hurricane Spin? I believe it’s called the Whirlwind Sword Attack in my time.”

_Gods no._

Not another name to that one-technique-that-everybody-happens-to-know-except-him.

“Is something wrong?”

Hyrule remained shut.

He had also listened about the other variants in the background, mumbles and whispers taunted in his ears. How even Sky, the one everyone thought who was the earliest in their own mess that they called a timeline, had his own variation of the spin attack: a skyward strike spin attack—whatever that meant. And Wild, who was the furthest away in some undisclosed future for at the very least ten thousands years or so even knew the spin attack, even if just the regular variant.

Hyrule knew none.

The traveler (did he even have the right to call himself a hero?) just bolted out into the woods, ignoring everyone else calling for him. Even Legend, his closest friend and possibly kin.

…How he was kidding. He’d be a disgrace to him if he truly were Legend’s descendant.

He became one with the woods, changing direction at random but kept himself in mind where he came from. Last thing he needed was to return back to the start—back to the people he last needed to see.

He loved getting lost, not because he wanted to view himself as a danger to others, but it kept his mind distracted. It kept him away from facing the others. It kept him away from danger.

_Hyrule—Link—just breathe. Just breathe._

He kept running. He kept running until his eyes landed on a river and collapsed on his knees. Link stared down at his reflection, a mockery of a hero.

Brown eyes and brown hair met him. He looked nothing like the others, all who had various shades of blond hair—from bright as gold to dirty blond, but none were explicitly brown like his were.And his eyes. Most of theirs shared the blue of the skies. Wind, the darkest green still bore a hint of blue to them.

But not brown. Theirs were the colors of the heavens. His was nothing but the color of the earth. Of dirt.

Link didn’t deserve to bear his name.

“Hyrule!”

It was _his_ voice. The traveler flinched. He took a glance between the woods and the river. He argued with himself in his mind, conflicted between going back around the woods or crossing the river, knowing he couldn’t swim.

The others most surely did. He bit his tongue, drawing a metallic taste to his mouth. He wished he had brought those boots with him, allowing him to cross rivers with ease. But he didn’t.

“Hyrule! There you are!”

The brown-haired hero rose to his feet, his eyes not quite meeting the blue of his mentor. “What do you want?” he asked.

“Before you ran away,” Legend started, crossing his arms, “I was about to ask if you wanted to train. You didn’t forget that, did you?”

Hyrule lowered his eyes to the ground. He did forget, his mind filled with thoughts of how he didn’t deserve it. How he wasn’t—

“Hyrule, speak to me.”

Legend’s voice was much softer and quiet, like one would pet the fur of a bunny. He lowered his arms to his sides, relaxing himself as he kept watching his protégé.

“We don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

“But I do want to!” Hyrule blurted out, eyes widening at the sudden outburst. “I want to become strong like you guys! I want to be skilled with a sword like _you!”_

_Even if I can never quite reach that level…_

“Hyrule, come here.”

Hyrule tensed. He thought of how Legend would have yelled at him. Yelled at him for running away. Or for avoiding him and the others.

But he didn’t. Legend remained silent, only reaching out his hand.

“Hyrule, please.”

Hyrule took Legend’s hand and he was yanked into an embrace. He tried to pull himself out, but the hero of legend’s arms tightened in response.

“Hyrule. _Link.”_

Said hero froze. Never he thought he would hear the hero of legend utter his real name.

“Whatever you’re thinking, I just want you to know you’re just as strong as the rest of us. It’s nothing a little training can’t fix.

“Now, shall we?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For Four's variant of the great spin attack/hurricane spin, "whirlwind spin attack", there is an oddity that I want to bring up. The move's name is actually attributed to Legend as it is part of the name of the sidequest where he learns the move (GBA Only), however the way to obtain the move is through playing Four Swords before the sidequest is unlocked. For some reason the Zelda Wiki doesn't attribute this name difference in its page and instead refers the move at large as the "great spin attack", hence the attribution to Legend and the comparison to Twilight's similarly-named "great spin".


End file.
